LITR / CRCL 5734: Colonial & Postcolonial Literature

Student Text-Dialogue Presentation, 2003

Leader:  Kayla Logan
Respondent:  Emily Masterson
Recorder:  Rebecca Stasney
June 3, 2003

Dialogue between Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart:

The Perception of “Nation” and National Identity 

            Different views of nation and new national identities developed during and after the age of European imperialism for the colonized peoples as well as for the colonizers who came into unknown land under many guises.  Colonizing nations justified their presence in Africa by claiming to spread “civilization,” Christianity, education, and justice.  Chinua Achebe’s post-colonial novel, Things Fall Apart (1959) and Joseph Conrad’s colonial novella, Heart of Darkness (1910), reveal two differing views of nation and national identity.  

In his article “English and the African Writer,” Chinua Achebe attempts to define exactly what national African literature is.  He classifies African literature into two categories: national literature that is written in English, and ethnic literature that is written in native African languages such as Igbo. In response to the political actions that created English as a national language for Africa, Achebe writes:

it is the fact that these nations were created in the first place by the intervention of the British, which (I hasten to add) is not saying that the peoples comprising these nations were invented by the British…on the  whole it did bring together many peoples that had previously gone their several ways, and it gave them a language with which to talk to one another. (344)

From a post-colonial standpoint, Achebe’s novel attempts to question and challenge the modern Anglo reader’s definition of nation and must therefore raise questions concerning the effectiveness of religious, educational, judicious and social institutions in a “traditional society.” 

            Joseph Conrad, a cosmopolitan man through his endeavors as a mariner, who has claims to both Eastern and Western Europe, presents a colonial and somewhat ambiguous view of nationhood and national allegiance.  Marlow is English, but works for a Belgian company.  Many of Marlow’s ideas seem to present his character as ambivalent and too individual for national identity.  He states that the sea is his real home.  The Russian in Heart of Darkness seems to also present an ambiguous sense of national allegiance.  In Conrad’s novel the depiction of national identity and national allegiance seems secondary to all of the characters.

Reading Selections from Heart of Darkness:

Page 8 (Part One, end of the sixth paragraph) – “Hunters for gold or pursuers of fame they all had gone out on that stream, bearing the sword, and often the torch, messengers of the might within the land, bearers of a spark from the sacred fire.  What greatness had not floated on the ebb of that river into the mystery of an unknown earth?...The dreams of men, the seed of commonwealths, the germs of empires.”

Page 10 (Part One, about 6 paragraphs down from previous quote) – “’Mind, none of us would feel exactly like this…They were no colonists, their administration was merely a squeeze, and nothing more, I suspect.”

Page 13 (at the bottom)  “Deal table in the middle, plain  hairs all round the walls, on one end a large shining map marked with all the colors of a rainbow.  There was a vast amount of red…”

Page 16 (middle of last paragraph) “Here and there grayish, whitish specks showed up, clustered inside the white surf, with a flag flying above them perhaps—settlements, some centuries old, and still no bigger than pin-heads on the untouched expanse of their background...looked like a God-forsaken wilderness with a tin shed and a flag-pole lost in it…”

Page 26 (first full paragraph) “men strolling aimlessly about in the sunshine of the yard…They wandered her and there with their absurd long staves in their hands like a lot of faithless pilgrims bewitched inside a rotten fence…”

Page 53  (first full paragraph, 3^rd sentence) “He looked like a harlequin.  His clothes had been made of some stuff that was brown Holland probably, but it was covered with patches all over, with bright patches, blue, red, and yellow…scarlet edging at the bottom of his trousers…you could see how beautifully all this patching had been done.”

Reading Selections from Things Fall Apart:

Chapter 18, 5th paragraph “As for the converts, no one could kill them without having to flee from the clan, for in spite of their worthlessness they still belonged to the clan…If they became more troublesome than they already were they would simply be driven out of the clan.”  This quote suggests that the Ibo do make some allowance for individuality.  That is, the converts are still considered part of the clan regardless of their chosen religious affiliation.

Chapter 18, 20th paragraph “’It is not our custom to fight for our gods,’ […] ‘Let us not presume to do so now.’”  Unlike Europeans, the Ibo avoid warring over differences of religion.  This further suggests that the Ibo culture has some degree of religious tolerance.

Chapter 15, last paragraph before chapter break “’There is no story that is not true,’ said Uchendu.  “The world has no end, and what is good among one people is an abomination with others.”  This suggests social tolerance between clans, and a willingness to at least accept different practices without condemnation on a particular clan or village.  

Chapter 17, first paragraph “The missionaries […] asked who the king of the village was, but the villagers told them that there was no king.  ‘we have men of high title and the chief priests and the elders,’ they said.”  Is Achebe attempting to draw comparisons or contrasts between European and Ibo forms of government and national allegiance? 

QUESTION:  How do Conrad and Achebe portray the concept of nation in their works? Is their portrayal relative to or reflective of attitudes toward imperialism in colonial and postcolonial worlds?

DISCUSSION:

Emily – The society that Achebe creates seems more modern than those in Heart of Darkness based on the traits of traditional and modern societies that we discussed in class.  Achebe seems to anticipate the future in some way.  There is a sense of individuality in both books – there are characters that are, in one way or another, searching for something (solutions are not provided by their culture).  The quotes from Achebe suggest that the natives were in many ways more “civilized” than the colonizers.

Kayla – Sawsan Sanjak in his dialogue from Summer 2001 comments that even in Heart of Darkness Conrad presents characters that challenge the view of civilization.  Sanjak writes, “In Africa’s wild life, the blacks exhibit more civilized self-control than the whites on board.”  I think that perhaps he is referring to the scene in which Marlow contemplates the cannibals on the steamer. 

Rosalyn Mack – The “cannibals” in Heart of Darkness are not really cannibals.  They are just hungry.  If they were cannibals, why would they bring the hippo meat?  This is an example of stereotyping Africans.  There is no African nation presented in Heart of Darkness. 

Kayla – I agree.  Do you think that Achebe gives characteristics of nation to the Africans in Things Fall Apart?

Rosalyn – In a way, they are the start of a nation.  For example they have a concept of justice.

Krisann Muskievicz – The ideas of justice usually involve punishment such as the exile of Okonkwo, but the clan ultimately accepts the person back.  There is a contrast in the concept of revenge and exclusion.

Dr. White – The native concept of justice involves the upkeep of the community, in some sense. What is the relationship between nation and individuals?

Kayla – I’m suggesting that although the Ibo culture presented by Achebe is clearly a traditional society, he seems to emphasize certain qualities to the organization of the culture (such as allowance for individual freedom and religious tolerance) that present the culture in a more modern light.  I think that he is alluding to an idea of nation through his portrayal of the government and ideas in Things Fall Apart.

Greg Johnson – reminiscent of beginnings of America – 13 colonies develop into a nation.

Kayla – A critic (Diana Akers Rhoads, “Culture in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart” 1993) argues that Ibo “village life [is] based on a kind of equality.”  Is seems that Achebe is suggesting that their traditional ways are more democratic than English culture.

Rosalyn – Yes, the colonizers are the savages.  They destroy from the inside out, and turn people against people.

Natalie Martinez – My students felt a sense of shame from the reading about the actions of the missionaries and colonizers.  They look at the own culture differently as a result.

Rosalyn – The American only tolerates, it doesn’t respect.  (Other religions for example)

At this a long discussion regarding religious practices and religious judicial controversy in America occurred. 

Dr. White – It is interesting how we went from nation to religion so quickly.

Natalie – They seem to be inseparable.

Kayla – Nations seem to follow under two categories.  The colonizers represent nations, and Achebe, I think, presents the Ibo tribe in Africa as a nation with modern qualities as well. 

Robert Buffum – But the conflict is revealed by characters like Obierika and Uchendu (the more “modern” thinkers) adapting to change while Okonkwo does not. 

Kayla - Is there a sense of nationalism in Heart of Darkness?

Krisann – Conrad’s opinion is that there was no nation in Africa before the white man brought it.  Achebe presents that nation was there before the colonizers arrived.

Rosalyn – The British think that nobody is civilized until they get there.

Kayla – Even in the main characters, like Marlow and the Russian there is an absence of “nation.”  I think both men in Heart of Darkness reveal a lack of national allegiance.

Greg – Marlow does say that his true home was the sea.